Monday, June 3, 2013

Charity Never Fails

And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.--Moroni 7:45 The Book of Mormon

This weekend I thought a lot about charity. In the Book of Mormon it teaches charity is the pure love of Christ. It occurred to me that charity is the pure love of Christ for myself. If I love myself like Christ does there will be no room for my impatience, unkindness, jealousy, self-servitude, temper, and dishonesty for others. Charity is being so full of self-acceptance there simply is no room for anything else.

What if my children had a mother who knew, intimately, the power of charity? Can I wake up each morning feeling grateful instead of fearful? Can I become a role model who embraces charity by exercise and determination?

I know it's been said so many times, but I am starting to get it now: how I treat myself is the same as how I treat others. If I want to be good to others, I need to be good to myself. The standards I use to judge myself is the standard I will use to judge others. And by "others" I primarily mean my children. So those standards better be incredibly fair.

This weekend I wondered if I could master charity towards myself--my greatest enemy and doubter. And if I could, who couldn't I learn to love? And to what extent? How deep?